by Laura Hawks
“I know Azamel had everyone looking for clues, listening for anything which might give him an idea of who took her or her whereabouts. He determined long ago the Rougarou were just a pawn in a bigger game. He was so sure it was about him. Revenge for something he did or for who he was, but with no ransom, seemingly wiped out of existence, he has been unsure what to do. And poor Clarissa has been going out of her mind searching everywhere she could, doing whatever she was able to find her baby girl. This wedding has been the first real break she has allowed herself to have. I think she feels if she stops looking, she will be condemned for it or something.”
Mani looked over to the two Shara was discussing. The couple was quietly talking about something in a corner, stopping to smile at those who passed close by, possibly enough to hear. He watched as Mel brushed a strand of hair from Clarissa’s face, a tenderness to that simple touch unlike any he had seen before. He wanted that for himself. He wanted a closeness with someone whom he loved and who would love him just as much back.
His mother had found it. In Zenthus. The chief bailiff almost swallowed her whole with the massive size of his body compared to hers. She was so petite and seemingly vulnerable, but if anyone gave her a moment’s notice they would realize the strength she had within. He adored Santanya, but if he admitted anything to himself, he would concede he was slightly jealous of her, of having what he wanted. He looked back down into the eyes of Shara.
She was perfect. Her skin as soft as a rose petal. He had to force himself to concentrate on her words and their discussion and not get lost in wondering what her lips tasted like. He noticed this time she was wearing glasses and he wondered about them. “Do you really need that eye apparel?” he asked, totally out of the blue.
Shara blinked a moment. They had been talking about Mel and Clarissa and his searching for Trinity when the abrupt change of topic occurred and it took several seconds to switch gears and wrap her head around what he was now talking about. “No. I just thought they made me look more professional.”
He stopped her movements and reached up with both hands, gently removing them from the bridge of her cute, little, upturned nose. “You are at a wedding. You don’t need to look professional here.” Mani tucked them into his breast pocket then grasped her forcefully against him.
“My, you are bold tonight. I never thought of you so forceful.”
“So then, you have been thinking of me.”
She flustered slightly. How did he do that? Put her totally off center, her head spinning in several directions like she just drank a bottle of Kraken Rum and was having trouble standing upright again. He chuckled against her ear with a rakish laugh, as if he knew exactly how off putting he was and enjoyed every minute of her discomfort.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help myself. This is the first opportunity I have had to get close to you. I don’t want proper or business-like. I want to know you, the real you.” Mani pulled back again and gazed into her eyes. The song reached its conclusion and he gave her a slight dip, holding her in that position. Leaning over her, he couldn’t resist and captured her soft lips with his own. Their lips joined as he assisted her to a standing position, his hand moving up her back to the nape of her neck.
Mani pushed her away, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I should not have done that.” Without another word, he strode off the dance floor, leaving her standing in astonishment, unsure what tornado just whisked around her. One moment she was talking, the next being kissed and left standing alone on the dance floor. Coyote was then in front of her, dancing.
“Thank you for waiting for me to come out to you. Saved me the trouble of going to the table and asking,” he commented lightly. Shara allowed herself to be swept up in Coyote’s arms for the dance while she tried to get her mind around what just happened with Mani. She didn’t know whether to be upset, angry, astonished or amused. Disappointed and hurt won out. She lifted her chin and focused on her new dance partner. Only her eyes betrayed her as they scanned the room seeking Mani out every now and again until he eventually left. By then, she was ready to leave the party as well. Gratefully, after a couple more songs, Coyote bowed out and returned her to her table to leave her alone with her sullen feelings.
Shara backed up quietly and moved to a seat at one of the tables, watching all the other couples on the dance floor. She was still trying to decipher what occurred with Mani. She was so excited he had asked her to dance. She didn’t realize how just being in his arms would send thrills of pleasure through her body. She assumed he was just being cordial by asking her to dance. Their conversation had been light, for the most part. Even slightly teasing and flirtatious. She admitted to herself, she had not expected to be kissed by him, but when he leaned over and captured her lips, she realized she was lost. It was better even than she imagined. She certainly didn’t want it to end. Yet, end it did. Abruptly. Just as quickly as it had started. Then he was gone and she was bewildered. Had she done something wrong? Why had he gone so quickly? Was she so awful of a kisser that he had to get away? Was her breath that bad? She didn’t know what to think. Her eyes continued to gaze about the room.
Coyote approached Logan. He tapped his shoulder as he asked permission to dance with Jasmine. With Logan’s consent, Coyote ushered Jaz onto the dance floor, spinning her to the beat of the music. He entangled his hand in her hair as he dipped her, moving around the floor with an expertise few might be aware of.
“How are you enjoying the wedding?” Coyote asked as he twirled his partner.
“I was a bit concerned about coming, but I am enjoying myself. Thank you. And yourself?”
“I find them a bit obnoxious. But then, I am not the one getting married and it’s a chance to get some free food and drink.”
“That sounds very self-serving.”
“In a way, I guess it is.” He twirled her out and back in again. “I overheard a bit of your conversation with Mel and the gang. You might want to consider giving Logan and the others a chance to continue discussion without you being there. Give Logan a chance to talk to his parents and understand all that is going on. You kind of threw him for a loop, from what it appeared to me.”
“Do you think so? He did seem a bit surprised about his mother and my fear about her discovering me. The meeting also enhanced the possibility Trinity was taken because of me.”
“Which is why you should give him some private time for him to talk to his parents and comprehend the situation better.”
“Maybe you’re right. I will give it serious consideration. Thank you.”
“Just trying to help. I understand how difficult it must have been to keep that secret for so long.”
“It has been. I never fully understood the immensity of the problem until this evening.”
“Just give them some time to let the knowledge sink in. It will be okay.”
“I will. Thank you.”
After two songs he returned her to Logan and bowed his appreciation of his permission.
“She is a wonderful dancer, Logan. You are a very lucky male to have so exquisite of a female at your side. Thank you, Jasmine, for your kindness in accompanying a man such as I to twirl about at such a fanciful affair.”
Without waiting for any further exchange of pleasantries, Coyote turned, stuffing his hand into his pocket. He had been able to obtain several strands of her hair and the necklace she bore around her neck. These two items should suffice plenty for Trinity to focus on in order to find the little spider. Coyote’s left side of his mouth lifted up in a sinister smirk as his eyes darkened with the promise of his plans being fulfilled.
Shara realized her pouting and self-examination and stood to return to her quarters. When she exited the ballroom, Mani was there waiting in the hallway. He had been leaning against the wall, his one foot crossed over the other. He became upright when he saw her emerge. She stopped as she saw him, unsure whether to continue or wait to see what he had to say. If anything.
“I’m sorry.”
&n
bsp; “For what?”
“For kissing you. For taking advantage of the moment to do what I had only dreamed about. For leaving as abruptly as I did.”
Shara was quiet for a moment, absorbing all of his words and the contriteness with which he said them. “You had dreamed about kissing me?” she asked, amazed he had thought about that.
Mani became flustered. “Yes. Of holding you, and kissing you, and getting to know you better.”
“Why did you leave then?”
“Because I became scared about how I felt about you. I wasn’t prepared for it.”
She moved up to him. Her voice was soft, almost shaky. “Do you regret kissing me?”
Mani’s eyes widened and he shook his head repeatedly. “Fuck, no. I don’t regret kissing you in any way. I just didn’t want to come across as a chauvinist or anything. I didn’t want to disrespect you.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “You didn’t. I appreciate your consideration, but it is misplaced. I actually am glad you kissed me.”
“You are?”
She grinned. “Yes. I had been wondering what it would be like.”
Cautiously, he leaned down to her. “Can I do it again?”
“Yes.”
Without touching her, he gently pressed his lips against hers. When she didn’t run away or back up, he reached for her and slipped his arms around her. She moved her own arms about his neck. As soon as she did, his kiss became deeper. He pushed his tongue against her lips and she willingly let him in. He was in heaven for the first time in his life. A location he never thought he would be.
Shara could feel the closeness grow between them. She had thought about him since the moment she met him years ago. She knew his visits were few and far between over the past couple of decades, but she was so excited when he came for a chance to even glimpse him from afar. This was her dream come true. Better even than her dreams, because this was actually happening. It wasn’t a fantasy. It wasn’t a hallucination and, if it were, she hoped she would never wake up from it.
“Get a room,” Mel teased as he led Clarissa away from the ballroom.
Shara and Mani guiltily backed away from each other, Shara glancing down in embarrassment that their kiss had developed into something more.
Mel stopped by Mani long enough to give him a warning glance not to hurt Shara. Mani instantly understood the silent warning and nodded. Once Mani and Shara were alone again, Mani brushed her slightly swollen lips with his thumb. “Can I see you again?”
She nodded then did something she never thought she would do in her entire life: she became bold. “Would you like to walk me to my room?”
He held out his arm to her and she linked her arm to his to begin walking towards her accommodations. Once he saw her safely there, he nodded and began to bow out. Shara shook her head. “I was hoping you would come in and stay for a while.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She held the door open for him and he entered willingly. Smiling softly to herself, she closed the door behind them.
Chapter 15
Nathan held Trinity, gently stroking her hair. It was quiet moments like these which saw her through most of the days she endured alone. Her captors allowed them one cage now, when they were together. Nathan reminded her often of her promise to keep trying to find whatever they were looking for so they wouldn’t hurt him anymore. But then they would remove him from her confinement for days on end. Sometimes he would come back without physical damage, others he would be heavily bruised and bleeding. She would wash his cuts, covering them the best she could. She would lie next to him and tell him everything would be okay. She would do as they commanded, so long as they didn’t kill him.
He hadn’t been with her long when the door opened. Axiso pulled Trinity off the bed and towards the door. Nathan tried to reach for her as she was pulled along, but he was unsuccessful. Trinity was thrown into the meditation room, as she has long since come to know it by. She was tired. She wanted to be in the comforting arms of Nathan. After over five years, you would think they would get a clue she was not going to be able to hone in on whatever it was they wanted her to find.
However, there was a table in the room this time. Something different. With curiosity, she examined the contents. Some hair and a necklace. The unseen booming voice jarred her out of her focused inquisitiveness.
“Use them to help you focus on what you are searching for.”
“But these are personal items. This is hair. I don’t understand. I thought I was looking for a thing, not a person.”
“You are looking for what I tell you to look for. Don’t worry yourself about the whos and whats of what you are searching for. All will become clear when the time comes. Focus and tell me where to find my desire.”
Trinity had the fight taken out of her so long ago she didn’t bat an eye at the command and immediately sat cross-legged on the floor. She had the hair in one hand and the necklace in the other. Through the training the voice had given her over the years, she knew the basics of focusing: opening her mind and searching for that elusive thread which called to her. She heard it on a few other occasions over the years, but she was not prepared to have it almost attack her senses as it was doing now with the items she held. They served almost as a tuning rod, drawing the call to her as never before.
She almost dropped the necklace but had been smart enough to wrap it around her palm. The hair stuck to her now-clammy skin while beads of sweat broke out upon her brow. Images, moments in time, flashed behind her closed eyelids, most of which did not make any sense. Some, however, confounded her. Images of her brother, Logan, laughing or hammering a nail in a board. Places she had never seen or did not recognize filled her senses. Sounds and smells so foreign to her she was as confused as ever as to where she was being led.
“What do you see?”
The voice caused her to focus more intently on something recognizable, even if it wasn’t familiar to her. A sign, a sense of place that she could tell him about.
“Green and white awning. Lots of tables. Music in the distance. People talking. Some getting louder as others fade. The name of New Orleans is singing in my head. By the river. She is alone.”
Coyote smiled at Trinity as she said those words. In all truth, he no longer fully needed her to find the wench who held the stone in her heart. He was now aware of who it was and where it was overall, but he didn’t know Jasmine’s whereabouts and he couldn’t afford her to be followed to see where she would be before she could be taken. He wanted, needed, to know Trinity was truthful. He needed to affirm she was broken and his to command. There might come a time very soon when she would have to choose, but with his hold on her she would choose him. Whether as the disembodied, commanding voice or as the youthful form of Nathan, that was still to be seen. Either way, though, she belonged to him.
Coyote sent the Rougarou on their way to bring Jasmine to him. Unbeknownst to Trinity, the wedding reception was still occurring. He had planted some seeds of suggestion and doubt to Jasmine so she would return home first, enabling Logan to have a few more private moments with his parents. He made sure he whispered these thoughts to her during their dances while he was also busy obtaining some strands of her hair. The dancing dips allowed him to slip her necklace from her without anyone noticing.
“You have done well, my child. A more difficult test will be coming soon. Axiso will return you to your room. Rest. For you will need to be totally refreshed for what is yet to come.”
Trinity stood and replaced the items back on the table. She needed to scrape the hair from her sweaty palm to totally get it off of her and it took her a moment longer than she anticipated as it clung to her stubbornly. She was anxious to return to her cell and see Nathan. Excited almost.
She was, therefore, totally disappointed to arrive only to discover Nathan was taken away again while she had been gone. She spun on Axiso. “Where is Nathan? Where did you take him this time? You just brought him back.”
How long had she been captive, with only this building of wherever she was to see? Over the years, she only had Axiso, Nathan and the disembodied mechanical voice telling her what to do as companions. She had come to rely on those three, wondering if her family even missed her any more or if what Nathan said was true: that they probably gave up looking after the first few months and moved on with their lives without her. She rebelled against such an idea at first. For months she kept hope her parents or her brother would locate her and bring her home. She kept trying to reach out to them but never got an answer, never received any sense of hope. Nathan told her she couldn’t rely on them. They only had each other, he mentioned often, and in time she began to believe him.
He was a prisoner as well. Weeks before she arrived, he told her, he had been captured. However, until she came, he was always treated ruthlessly, never sure of his usefulness to his captors, never sure if he would live to see another day. How often had he whispered to her that she was his savior? Because of her, he felt they found a purpose for him. He told her often he was alive only because of her.
“I have seen you come back from the dead. Over and over again,” she once stated.
“True. I can regenerate, but my immortality comes with a painful cost and there are ways to kill me so I can’t return.” He tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. “You won’t let that happen, will you?”
